Nature and the Human Soul

Isobelle Cameron

Through his life work as a psychologist and wilderness guide Bill Plotkin has written a cruical book, one that shows at the most fundamantal level (our selves) how we can live harmoniously with and celebrate the earth. Bill provides a solid, realist framework for us to undertake. This is a timely book that anyone concerned with the health of our planet should read.

There’s an old adage ‘think global, act local’ which for a time helped motivate people to act on environmental, social and justice issues. The phrase itself is relevant now more than ever, yet the appearance of it has become something of a cliche.

It was this adage though that I thought of, in a totally new light, as i began to read Nature and the Human Soul by Bill Plotkin.

Having not read Bill’s earlier work this book came as a surprise and total revelation in its content, purpose and meaning. I was expecting an investigation of the relationship and interconnectedness of nature with the human soul. Certainly that is covered by Bill himself and in the works of Joanna Macy, Thomas Berry, Rainer Maria Rilke and David Whyte.

Nature and the Human Soul is a framework for human development, written directly to the reader and primarily for their personal development. It provides deep insight into how we as individuals can develop, mature and grow into soulful people connected to the Earth, our soulful self, and our communities.

So many of the ecological catastrophies facing us now cannot simply be fixed by technologies and management strategies. At the core of why we as humans perpetrate environmental degradation and human rights is our egocentric self.

Through his life work as a psychologist and wilderness guide Bill Plotkin has written a cruical book, one that shows at the most fundamantal level (our selves) how we can live harmaniously with and celebrate the earth. Bill provides a solid, realist framework for us to undertake. This is a timely book that anyone concerned with the health of our planet should read.

Isobelle Cameron.